1 Samuel 31

¹ The Philistines gave battle to Israel, and the Israelites, fleeing from the Philistines, fel and wereslaughtered on Mount Gilboa.

² The Philistines bore down on Saul and his sons, and they killed Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua,Saul's sons.

³ The fighting grew fiercer round Saul; the archers came upon him, and he was severely wounded

⁴ by the archers. Saul then said to his armour-bearer, 'Draw your sword and run me through with it; I donot want these uncircumcised men to come and make fun of me.' But his armour-bearer was very much afraidand would not do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

⁵ His armour-bearer, seeing that Saul was dead, fel on his sword too and died with him.

⁶ Thus died Saul, his three sons and his armour-bearer, together on the same day.

⁷ When the Israelites who were on the other side of the Jordan saw that the Israelites had been routedand that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their towns and fled. The Philistines then came andoccupied them.

⁸ When the Philistines came on the fol owing day to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sonslying on Mount Gilboa.

⁹ They cut off his head and, stripping him of his armour, had these carried round the territory of thePhilistines to proclaim the good news to their idols and their people.

¹⁰ They put his armour in the temple of Astarte; and his body they fastened to the wal s of Beth-Shean.

¹¹ When the inhabitants of Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹² the warriors al set out and, having marched al night, took the bodies of Saul and his sons off thewal s of Beth-Shean; they brought them to Jabesh and burned them there.

¹³ They then took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk of Jabesh, and fasted for sevendays.